01 March 2023 , 18:41
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The Cheltenham Festival’s oldest trophy, which had been stolen during a break-in in February, has been recovered just in time for the meeting in two weeks’ time.
The world famous Grand Annual Steeplechase Cup was among a haul of items taken during a burglary at a silversmiths in Sheffield where staff had been carrying out work with it.
South Yorkshire Police reported that the trophy, presented to the Megsons, owners of the Ben Pauling-trained Global Citizen who won the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase last year, was now back in safe keeping.
“A valuable trophy which was being worked on ahead of the Cheltenham Festival and was taken during a burglary at Camelot Silverware on Gibraltar Street earlier this month has now been recovered,” the police said in a statement. “Thank you to all who shared our appeal.”
The recovery of the trophy was welcomed by Pauling who said, "It’s good news all round.”
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He explained: “When you win the Grand Annual you get the original trophy for a year
“The Megsons were having a replica made of the original to keep forever, so it was in the jewellers in Sheffield having moulds and all the rest of it done. It was stolen but the police have managed to find it and get it back.”
Global Citizen won the Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup in 2022 (Getty)Pauling will be hoping to reclaim the trophy with Global Citizen who is set line up in the same race on March 15, having had his first run since October in the Kingwell Hurdle last month, in which he finished last of four.
“He had his prep run in the Kingwell and I was very happy with his run,” he said. “He hadn’t done an awful lot since being in America.
“He has lost an awful lot of condition and weight when he was in America and it took a long time to put him back together.
“He’d done very little work before the Kingwell, ran very respectably and would have come on a huge amount for it. He should go to Cheltenham with a good chance again.”